Part 5 - Assemble Structure on Platforms

Add Column Base

Set the work plane as the horizontal reference plane of adaptive point 1

Place a reference polygon centred on the adaptive point, first making it 4 sided

It will give four temporary dimensions, one for each side, from the centreline references

Make these into real dimensions

Select all four dimensions and associate them to a parameter called 'Half base'

Optional: create a new parameter called Base Width

Optional: add a formula to 'Half base' = Base Width /2

Select the four reference lines of the polygon

Create form

Drag its top surface up, and it should enable a temporary dimension for the height

Turn that into a dimension

Associate it to a parameter 'Base Height'

The family is now ready to use in a project model

Create an Array of Columns

Load the family into a project

Create railway platforms (floors or extrusions of some kind)

Create an in-place Mass family

Draw a rectangle of reference lines, with the two long sides centred on the outside platforms

The length of the rectangle should be a multiple of the distance between each platform

Select the four reference lines (rectangle)

Create a form

Drag the top surface of the form up or down so that it is flush with the top of the platforms

Select the top surface of the form

Click on the 'Divide surface' icon

Depending on the number of platforms/tracks, and the length of the rectangle, adjust the number of U and V grid divisions to achieve a square pattern of grids, one per platform - remembering that the number matches the grid lines not the divisions

Change the surface representation of the divided path; make the Nodes visible

Place one of the structural adaptive components onto any one of the nodes

Select the component and click on the Repeater icon

It should create an array of columns, one on each node

Select the divided surface and hide its nodes again, so that they will not be visible in the project in any views. NB. if any divided path nodes are visible in the structure, you need to hide those back in the family and reload them (which can be painfully slow, so its better to do so before creating the repeater)

Finish the Mass family

In the project Browser, select the column family and change its 'Inside Radius' property to match half the spacing between nodes (platforms) - this should ensure that the overall size of the roof matches the divided surface grid size

Adjust any of its other properties as desired - eg. Base Height

The individual nested families will most likely be shared families, unless you changed that when creating them - so you should be able to adjust other parameters by selecting the nested families in the project browser - eg. Number of struts. NB. it can be slow to make those property changes depending on your computer, but remember that Revit is doing a lot of calculating for each change, and it is still much quicker than creating such a structure by conventional Revit modeling tools.

You should now have a basic parametric model of the railway station roof of Santiago Calatrava's Gare do Oriente in Lisbon

Step by Step Checklist

Open the 'one-eighth' adaptive component created in the previous blog post

Select the structural elements and temporarily hide them, to leave the rig visible

Place two hosted points each on the arc and two of the reference lines

Link the points with reference lines - in the case of the arc, snap to the intersection point along the middle of the arc (NB. make sure 3D snapping is on)

The purpose of placing new shorter reference lines over the top of the existing ones is to create a rig for the struts to snap to the ends of those shorter lines while still being offset from the adaptive points

Select the 3 points near the start of each line/arc - remembering the direction you placed the lines/arc

Associate the Normalised Curve Parameter to a parameter called 'Segment proportion'

Select the other 3 points near the end of each line/arc

Change their Measure From properties to 'End'

Associate their Normalised Curve Parameter to 'Segment proportion'

Select the reference arc, click on the 'Divide Path' icon

Repeat this for each of the two reference lines

Select the 3 new Divided Paths

Associate their number of divisions with a new parameter 'Number of Struts'

Add a formula to the Segment proportion parameter:

Segment proportion = 1 / (Number Struts + 1)

This will make the distance each hosted point is from the adaptive points to be equal to the segments on the divided path

Flex the Number of Struts parameter to make sure the divisions change and the end points move

Create the Struts

Open the previously created 2 point adaptive tube family

Save it as a 3 point strut family

Add another point in free space

Make it adaptive (point 3)

Place a reference line between points 2 and 3

Place 2 hosted points on the line

Make their Show Reference properties to be Always visible

Change their Measurement Type properties to 'Segment Length'

Change the Measure From property of the second point to 'End'

Associate their Segment Lengths to the 'Offset from End' parameter

Set the work plane to be the reference plane of the first point

Place a reference circle on the point

Give it a radius dimension and associate it to the Radius parameter

Repeat for the second point - add a reference circle

Select both circles and the host reference line

Create Form - it should create a second tube

Flex the parameters and the adaptive point locations

Load the V-shaped strut into the other adaptive family

Place the Struts

Place a component, snapping to the divided path nodes on each path - it is important to select the same node number on each one

It is better to avoid the end nodes so that you don't accidentally snap to a host point - choose nodes one in from the end

Select the strut

Click on the Repeater icon

If the divided path host references were all created in the same direction, it should create a regular pattern of struts